The UOC has been distinguished in the CYD ranking for its excellence in the areas of knowledge transfer, law and education

According to the 2026 CYD ranking, the UOC (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya) excels in the area of knowledge transfer, where it obtained high-performance scores in four indicators and average-performance scores in four more. And, looking at this year's overall results, the UOC obtained scores in a total of 36 performance indicators in the overall university ranking and 81 in knowledge-related fields, where it particularly stands out in the areas of law and education.

The four high-performance scores obtained in the area of knowledge transfer were in publications with companies, spin-offs, income from lifelong training and impact on public policy. It also obtained average-performance scores in four indicators: private funds cleared, patents granted per faculty member, licensing revenue and publications cited in patents.

The second area in which the UOC excels according to the 2026 CYD ranking is research. Like last year, the UOC obtained high-performance scores in four indicators (the same ones as last year): publications per faculty member, highly cited publications, standardized impact of publications and research periods. It also obtained three average-performance scores for external research funds cleared, external research funds attracted and postdoctoral researchers.

As in the previous edition, the UOC also obtained high-performance scores in three indicators in the area of teaching and learning. More specifically, it obtained top marks for the success rate indicator and for the percentage of students from other autonomous communities for both bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as average-performance scores for two indicators in the bachelor's and master's degree pass rate, just like in the previous edition.

In the area of international outlook, it obtained high-performance scores in three indicators (as it did in the previous edition): foreign teaching staff, doctoral theses by foreign students and international publications.

Finally, the CYD ranking also assesses universities' contribution to regional development. In this area, the UOC obtained a high-performance score (as it did last year) for regional research funds, as well as average-performance scores in two indicators: regional publications and publications with companies in the region.

The UOC, Spain's top-ranked online university

This ranking gives the UOC high-performance scores for 15 indicators, placing it ahead of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR) and the International University Isabel I of Castile (UI1), with six each; the Spanish Distance Learning University (UNED), with one; and Madrid Open University, which achieved none.

A total of 81 scores in the areas of law and education

The 2026 CYD ranking also includes a ranking by field of knowledge, in which the UOC obtained scores in 81 performance indicators in the areas of law and education. In addition, it obtained high-performance scores in 24 indicators and six average-performance scores in employment opportunities for Law, Electronic and Telecommunications Engineering, Computer Engineering and Psychology students.

13th edition of the CYD ranking

The CYD ranking, now in its 13th edition, continues to grow, with results from 84 universities, 31 fields of knowledge and 3,909 qualifications. The participating universities represent 87.5% of the active universities teaching bachelor's degrees included in Spain's official Register of Universities, Centres and Qualifications (RUCT). Of these, 48 are public (with 100% representation) and 36 are private (with 75% of the total represented).